


See the Lights

by VHScrow



Category: Risk of Rain (Video Game)
Genre: Additional Warnings Apply, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Study, Gen, Headcanon, Implied/Referenced Character Death, POV First Person, Pre-Canon, Self-Discovery, Team as Family, Trans Character, Warnings May Change, Work In Progress, at least thats whats planned, so many headcanons.
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:34:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28220229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VHScrow/pseuds/VHScrow
Summary: And that night, they dream of a full moon, high in the sky, smiling down on them. They dream of a cold, blue planet, artificial in nature, spinning in a perfect orbit around its parent star. They dream of family. They dream of adventure. They dream of hope.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> "Canon divergence" here means that I smashed ROR1 and ROR2 together into one big pile. Have fun.

All you remember are snatches.

You were nearby when the beast broke free of its cage. You were one of the first ones to respond. Of the five enforcers on the ship - your squad - you were the closest.

You remember rushing in, seeing this beast - a positively _massive_ creature, more than twice your size, spitting acid and crushing the poor scientists studying it beneath its claws. You remember hearing the screaming as it ended lives like nothing.

That did not stop you.

You remember being scooped up in its claws, the beast roaring in your face, spitting acid on your armor, melting through it and staining your skin and the sheer pain and _burning_ brought with it was almost enough to make you black out. It was like the acid was eating you alive.

You remember being dropped.

You remember an explosion.

You remember acid everywhere, on your face, on your hands, on your chest.

And you remember fading into darkness.

——

When you awoke, it was not you anymore. When we awoke. When _I_ awoke.

I remember seeing lights - bright, fluorescent, burning lights up above me. I remember lying on my back, staring up at these lights, lying on something stiff yet comfortable, compared to before. I remember hearing beeping, feeling cords attached to me, and my own, shaky breathing.

I remember the burning. The dull, yet still present, burning of acid scars, all over my face, my chest, my hands.

This is my first ever waking memory.

I hold a hand in front of my face. When my eyes adjust, I see my flesh is all marred. The acid felt like it ate its way down to the bone, but the skin grafts on my hand say otherwise.

“You’re awake.”

A gruff voice from across the room. I lower my hand and look over myself - I am in a hospital bed, in a sterile white hospital room, with those god-awful fluorescent lights up above - and see another person sitting up in a bed across the room, looking at me tiredly. He looks pretty beat up, with gauze wrapped around his chest and half his face, obscuring one eye. Memories tell me this man is familiar, even in his current state. A friend, even. One of your squad mates.

I force myself to sit up as well, doing my best to ignore the pain flaring up all throughout my body. It’s hard to even blink, so after sitting up I resign myself to simply staring at him, not saying a word.

The fellow enforcer stares back before he speaks again. “You look like shit.”

_“You_ look like shit,” I respond. My voice comes out harsh, quiet, damaged - not at all what it used to be. It hurts to even whisper.

A wiry smile crosses the man’s face. “Glad to hear it,” he says, which causes me to attempt to raise an eyebrow. This simple action triggers more pain in my face, so I let it fall back to resting, hoping to return to that subtle ache. "It means I'm alive."

A door opens to my right, causing us both to look over. A nurse walks in wearing scrubs and carrying a holo-pad, with a small circular robot hovering by his head. Seeing us, he nods to us both and says, “You’re both awake. That’s good. The doctor will be in shortly, but for now I will try to answer any questions you may have about your situation.”

“Where’s the rest of our crew?” the other enforcer asks as the nurse’s robot hovers over to him. He gets right to the point. Try as I might, his name escapes me. Your shared memories are not helping.

The robot scans the enforcer - a large bulky man with fair skin, ash-blond hair, and one visible blue eye - as the nurse’s expression darkens.

“They did not make it,” he says, quietly. “I’m sorry.”

I simply remain silent as the small robot hovers over to me. Its one eye blinks, and then a blue light appears from it, covering me in it before shutting off again a few seconds later, starting to hover back over to the nurse.

The other enforcer also falls silent, seeming to curl into himself at that response. “...I understand,” he says finally. I glance over at him before looking back at the nurse. There is nothing I can say or do to console him.

The nurse looks over at me as his robot returns to his side. “And you?”

I shake my head. Words will not form without your help, now, and there is nothing to say in the silence.

The nurse jots something down on his holo-pad and then nods back to us. “Well, both your vitals are excellent for your current states. We’ll be seeing you both soon. For now, try to get some more rest.” After that, he turns his back and exits the room, the doors sliding shut behind him.

The silence stretches between us two in the room. I resign myself to laying back down on my back, forcing through the pain as I do so. There is a window to my left, and I find myself staring out it, listening to the subtle beep and hum of machinery.

The window offers barely any view, but a view nonetheless. We are in a city. Judging from the sky color, I think we’re on Earth. Could not tell you what continent, or what country. The sun shines overhead, over the skyscrapers, and casts its light down into the small hospital room. The heat is somewhat uncomfortable, and yet I find myself drifting off anyway. From the tiredness, from the pain medication I’m sure they have me on, both, or something else?

“...Before you fall asleep,” I hear from across the room, and I turn my head over to look at the other enforcer once more. He’s sitting up, still, his legs pulled up to his chest now, not looking at me as he speaks. “I...I’m sorry.”

I can feel words bubbling up in my throat, your words, something akin to _it’s not your fault_ or _I’m sorry too_ , but I say nothing. I simply turn my head back towards the window, watching as the sun starts to slowly dip down over the sky.

\--

And that night, I dream.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You want ocs? We got ocs! We got ocs galore!

That night, I dream.

I dream I am in the middle of a pavilion. The area surrounding me is a cold, dull blue color, and even though the sky is bright, stars twinkle up above. There are a few trees in the distance, in planters, just barely grown to maturity. The planters, and the ground beneath me, is a dull grey cobblestone, placed so naturally it looks almost unnatural. There is grass beyond the cobblestone, neatly mowed, and when I turn around I see a large dome-like building behind me. The doors to the building are shut from my sight.

Looking down at myself, I look different. I’m dressed in a tight black bodysuit, with a silver top and slitted skirt over it. There are silver gauntlets around my forearms, humming with some sort of energy. My physique feels...smaller, somehow, but graceful, and still just as powerful as I am in my current body.

Turning back around, I notice the full moon has risen in the sky, peeking over the horizon, as big as the sun. Its light casts a glow to the area, intensifying the blueness. I find myself staring up at it. The sky isn’t dark at first, but as the moon rises higher, the light in it dims.

I can’t stop staring at the moon when I notice a figure slowly emerging from it. It is a massive creature, very much _not_ humanoid, with what looks like a hole in its face and tentacles flowing like hair from the back of its head. Its body is all skeletal, with a vaguely human arrangement of limbs, and its skin is dark as night. As it approaches, I find myself entranced, stuck in place. I feel no fear. I feel like I was meant to see it.

_Her._ I feel like I was meant to see _her._

She drops to her knees, and even then she towers over me still. One skeletal hand reaches out to me, and the closer she gets, the more I hear whispers coming from all around the area. Indistinguishable from each other, and I can’t make out what they’re saying as they fall into the background noise. I remain in place.

Her hand, which is as big as my torso and head combined, reaches forward, and one finger is placed on my shoulder. I wince, but I feel no pain, sense no maliciousness. She is being incredibly gentle with me.

I hear a voice in my head. Her voice, echoing into nothingness.

_Come to the House. Come see us. They will welcome you in._

I wake up.

——

It’s been days since we landed in the hospital. A week, perhaps, or maybe slightly longer. My wounds have healed as much as they possibly could. The other enforcer - Ardent, I’ve taken to calling him in my mind - has had his bandages taken off by now. One of his eyes has gone blind from the acid scarring. I’m lucky I’ve managed to keep both of mine.

He’s asleep now, though, and I’m preparing myself to leave. My few belongings have been delivered to me, and I’m dressed in civilian clothes. I’m simply waiting for the official notice from the social workers and doctors to be discharged, but it shouldn’t be too long now.

They think I’m heading back into civilian life. They have therapists waiting on the outside, an apartment in the city, a job lined up for me. They couldn’t be more wrong.

The sliding doors open to my right, and I stand from the edge of my bed as a nurse walks in. She nods to me and says, “Your papers are all in order, Cheryl. Ready to go?”

I nod back to her, grabbing my duffel bag and hoisting it over my shoulder. Giving one last look back to Ardent, I feel words bubbling up in my throat again. Your words, perhaps, a sort of _I’m sorry_ or a _I’ll never forget you_ or a _you were a good friend._ But I say nothing and head towards the nurse, who turns her back and guides me out the room. The doors slide shut behind me.

The nurse guides me through the hallways, and I have to duck on occasion under door frames and other such low beams - these buildings were clearly not made for enforcers like me. Or, ex-enforcers now, at least.

We eventually make our way through the winding halls into an elevator, down a couple floors, and out into the reception area, where a team of social workers, psychiatrists, and other medical-related officials greet us. I even see a few policemen. Some congratulate me on getting out of the hospital so soon, some simply nod at me as we’re guided out of the hospital into the sunlight of the city.

I am ushered into the back seat of a taxi that’s waiting for us on the curb. A social worker who I’ve never seen before today slides into the seat next to me and closes the door. They hardly fit with me in the seat as well, but they seem comfortable enough, calling out a destination to the taxi driver, who in turn nods and starts up the vehicle. I feel the not-unfamiliar hum of the taxi coming to life and rising a bit off the ground before flying off with us in tow.

“We have an apartment for you near the ship channel,” the social worker informs idly as the taxi soars through the sky. “It’s on the other side of town; farthest one we could get, as you requested. Your armor, your medication, everything else they’ve given you which couldn’t fit in your bag has been sent there already.” They pull out a folder from their bag - which I hadn’t noticed until now - and hand it to me. “These are all your residency papers, your discharge papers, et cetera. The UESC was a pain in the ass to work with - as usual—“ that last part was mumbled under their breath— “but we managed it, in the end. Congrats, Cheryl, and welcome back to earthen civilian life.”

I take the folder with a nod and flip through it quietly. Everything seems to be in neat order, as it should be. I eventually set it down under my thigh and turn my attention out the window.

The rest of the drive is spent staring out the window and watching the scenery fly past. Music sounds from the front seat, and I find myself zoning out to the sound of it.

A shuffle of movement, moments pass, and the next thing I’m aware of I’m standing in the small apartment, looking out the window towards the port at all the spaceships. It’s a large port, filled with all different kinds of ships. Most of them are large ships - the cargo ones most likely owned by the UESC - but I spot some smaller, personal vessels as well.

I find my scarred hand is pressing up against the glass window. I find myself looking around the small bedroom afterwards. I find myself feeling...small. Insignificant. Trapped.

This was just step one, I tell myself. I’ll make it out of here soon enough. I’ll hitch a ride to Mars, then past our solar system and into deep space, and then I’ll find the answers I need.

Tonight, perhaps, if all goes well.

——

Night falls soon enough. I find myself down at the docks, amidst all the ships, dressed in casual clothes and my duffel bag slung over my shoulder as usual. In it are a few changes of clothes, some toiletries, my pain meds, and cold hard cash. Not all of it, of course, just enough to pay my way if I have to. I can always find an ATM on Mars if necessary.

No weapons, either. This makes whatever’s left of you back there antsy, but shared skills tell me that we’ve had more than enough unarmed training to get by. As long as we’re not dealing with other military. We need to come in peace.

It’s easy to be in a place that you’re not supposed to be in if you act convincingly enough. I stride around the dock with ease, avoiding the huge cargo ships and keeping my distance from what requires it, but otherwise I am not questioned about what I am doing. My goal is a small vessel towards the end of the dock I saw land here mid-evening - either hijacking it, or joining the supposedly small crew it has for a ride.

Eventually I make it down there by the vessel. It seems to be a small racing ship, just big enough for a crew of about three people. There’s only one person nearby as I approach, tinkering with the underside of the ship on a raised platform. She catches sight of me soon enough.

“Oi!” she calls, waving her hand to signal to me. She’s a tall woman, with tan-brown skin and curly blonde hair pulled over to one side, wearing a dark blue jumpsuit. “Whatcha doing here? Isn’t this place off-limits to civilians?”

I stare up at her, doing my best to hide my scarred face under the cap I am wearing. Taking a few steps closer, I try to keep my voice at its normal low register, so as not to aggravate the scarring. “I need a ride to Mars. Got no way to get there myself.”

“We ain’t a cruise ship, my guy,” a different voice calls, and we both look up to see another character looking over at us from the cockpit of the ship. This one is clearly not human, with a floating pink circle with one eye for a head, detached from the rest of her body. She’s glaring down at me. “We don’t take hitchhikers.”

“That’s rich coming from you, Pinky!” the first woman calls up, before turning back to me. “She has a point, though. We’re not a big enough ship to take on stowaways, unless you can help out, of course.”

“I can pay,” I respond shortly, digging through my duffel bag before pulling out a wad of cash to show her.

I notice her eyes widening in surprise before she lowers the platform she was on, hopping off before it reaches the ground completely and trotting over to me. She’s not as tall as I am up close - no one ever is - but she takes the credits from my hand and thumbs through them. “You weren’t kidding, huh,” she whistles, quiet and low. “It’s just Mars, right? I can’t take this much for that, but I’ll let you on anyway.” She hands me back the stack of credits and gestures for me to follow her as she starts walking back towards the ship. “What’s your name?”

“Cheryl.” I stuff the credits back into my bag and follow.

“Nice name. I’m Averie!” She gives me a wave before heading back up on the platform, motioning for me to join her, which I do. “Averie Elizabeth Reed.” She presses a button on the lift with her finger, and slowly we are rising up into the cabin of the ship. “What’s your business on Mars? Visiting family or something?”

“Yeah,” I lie, resisting the urge to scratch at my throat as I talk. “I have a cousin there who I haven’t seen in years. I’m going to pay him a surprise visit.”

This all sounds suspicious as hell coming from me, but Averie seems to buy it, or at least she doesn’t question me on it. She simply hums a tune to herself as the platform stops and we are in the cabin of the ship.

“A trip to Mars shouldn’t take longer than a day or so at most,” she informs me as she heads towards the cockpit. I can see the alien named Pinky glaring at me from her spot in the cockpit as well. “But since you’re basically undocumented, you’re gonna have to hide if we pass through any UESC checkpoints. All clear?”

I have to fight the urge to say _yes ma’am_ almost on instinct. “I read you loud and clear.”

“Good!” Averie straps herself down in the pilot’s chair. “Strap yourself in, Cheryl, and welcome aboard.”


	3. Chapter 3

_“Congratulations. You’re halfway here.”_

I turn around behind me, hearing the voice from that direction. There is no one there.

I don’t recognize my surroundings. I’m in a long hallway, with light blue-almost white brick making up the walls and floors and a long, dark blue carpet with gold accents stretching out down the length of it. The walls are decorated with banners and tapestries of emblems I don’t recognize. The ceiling above me is glass, but little light filters through into the area. I can’t see the end of the hall, nor can I see where it leads. The area is colored that same hazy grey-blue as before.

I look down at my hands. I see the gloves, the bodysuit, the same skirt and glowing gauntlets as before. This leads me to the conclusion that I am dreaming again.

_“Are you proud of yourself? You should be.”_

I whip around again, back towards where I was facing previously, to see an impressively tall, pale, gaunt-faced woman, wearing a pristine white floor-length ball gown. Her hair is grey and pulled back into a high bun, and her eyes are the same shade. She holds her hands folded together, down in front of herself.

_“You were sent by Flora, were you not?”_

“Who are you?” I ask, and I am shocked by my own voice coming out clearer and at a higher register than I am used to. My hand goes to my throat, gently touching it. It doesn’t sound like my voice at all, and yet at the same time, I know it to be mine.

The woman simply smiles at me. It seems like a sad smile, the way her expression stands, but I get the impression that is how she normally looks. _“My name is Aeya, the waning crescent moon,”_ she introduces herself as. _“My sibling, Flora, sent you a dream as well, did she not?”_

I stare up at her, not understanding. “I-I’m sorry?”

Aeya taps her foot once on the floor, even though her expression remains in that almost-sad smile. _“The full moon. Do you not remember?”_

The area shifts and warps around me as I think. We are now outside, back at the pavilion from my first dream, the tree leaves whispering in the faint breeze. The cobblestone under my boots feels only slightly less comfortable than the rug I was just on.

“N-no, I think I do recall,” I answer, gazing around the area once more. Directly behind Aeya, the moon is starting to rise, the bright crescent framing her outline. “She did not tell me her name, though.”

_“Your confusion is pardoned, Artificer,”_ Aeya simply responds, yet the way she addresses me puzzles me even more. _“You have no concrete plan for how you will find us, yes?”_

I stare up at her again for a bit before responding. “...Unfortunately, that’s correct.”

Aeya smiles again. _“The High Court loves their privacy, of course, but we will guide your path. A friend of my sibling is a friend of us all.”_ She turns around, staring up at the rising moon as she speaks. _“Do watch out for the rest of us, though. Take care, and we will see you soon.”_

I find myself reaching out towards her with one hand as the dream fades.

——

I’m not allowed off the ship until night falls again. Averie’s call, but I would’ve preferred this way anyway.

Once I finally get to disembark, Averie takes half the stack of credits I have on hand - less than I was expecting - and sends me on my way. I find myself, once again, alone on the ship docks, but this time I am on the now-terraformed Mars instead of the graying Earth.

She’s a good kid, I think to myself as I find myself boarding another ship that is soon to leave. This one, I’m told, is heading towards a star system known as Tau Ceti on a research trip, which is far enough away that they will be making another stop before arriving. I’m hoping to find my destination around then.

This feels right enough. I can’t ignore the doubt of rationality in my gut, but it seems like I’m on the right track.

The ship takes off soon enough. The crew of it gives me the occasional sideways glance, but I don’t mind. I hunker myself down for a longer journey ahead.

——

After a few days of uneventful travel - time passes rather abnormally in space, I’ve since learned - we land on a rather small moon out in the farther reaches of the solar system. Still colonized, but barely, just enough to have an atmosphere of its own. Just enough for me to breathe when I disembark from the ship. This is our stop to refuel and rest.

The docks here seem deserted in comparison to Earth’s and Mars’ in terms of ships, but the people mingling about are abundant. It seems like these docks are a common landing spot for people to traverse - a crossroads in the solar system, if you will.

It almost seems like there’s too many people here. I spot only three other ships in varying sizes at the docks, but not all of the people here look like crewmembers of their respective ships. Some strike me as dock workers, but others look like simple civilians.

Anxiety settles in my gut. Something doesn’t feel right here, even though nothing seems out of place from what I can tell. The ship’s crew that I came on doesn’t notice out of the ordinary.

There’s a pause in the air, yet everyone is still moving around. I find myself holding my breath. Survival instincts? I force myself to breathe. In, out.

I glance around. Crew, workers, civilians. Eyes everywhere. Living bodies everywhere. I glance up. Cameras in places where they’re supposed to be. If something happens, it will be seen.

Is this you taking over?

I grip the handle of my duffel bag and glance around some more.

I spot three figures near the smallest ship in the dock. One looks like a pilot, nothing out of the ordinary. The other two, hovering - _literally hovering_ \- near said pilot, dressed in matching chrome-colored tops and skirts with oblong-shaped helmets and faintly glowing gauntlets around their wrists. They seem to be chattering to each other as the pilot preps the ship.

Wait, that’s—

The sound of a gunshot stops my thoughts right in their tracks. One of the hovering figures - who had moved slightly to their right while talking - suddenly grips their shoulder and collapses down to their knees. The other’s head shoots up, and I whip around to see a figure jumping off of a pile of crates by one of the other ships.

The screaming starts not even seconds later, but my instincts have kicked into gear already. I drop my bag and find myself sprinting in the direction of the crates.

It’s an easy reach, and soon I find myself face to face with a person quickly reloading what looks like a semi-automatic rifle. An expression of surprise is plain on their face - they weren’t expecting me - before I tackle them to the ground. The rifle is knocked out of their hands as they attempt to wrestle with me, but I am far stronger and easily pin them down on their stomach with their arms behind their back.

“Let _go,_ you brute!” the gunner shouts at me, flailing under me, but other footsteps reach my ears above the din of the screaming outside as I glance up to see two enforcers round the corner to where we are. Their bright blue armor is unmistakable, and yet only one of them carries the trademark shield between them. The gunner’s expression pales at the sight of them.

_“Stand down, civilian,”_ one of the enforcers calls, and I put my knee over the gunner’s arms from where they’ve been pinned and raise my own hands up above my head.

“Not here to cause trouble, officers,” I say carefully, as the one without the shield has his gun trained on me. The other trains his gun on the gunner beneath my knee. “Just trying to help.”

_“Anything you say or do will be held against you in a court of law. Failure to comply will—“_

“Result in punishment, I get it, alright.” Your words come tumbling out of my mouth, even though we both know to wait for further instruction.

The enforcer with the shield turns his head towards me. _“Stand up,”_ he instructs, and I do, arms still raised above my head. The gunner below me is spewing out a string of curses under their breath, but they know not to move when two enforcer guns are trained on them.

The enforcer without the shield looks me over as well. _“State your name and reason for being here, civilian.”_

“Cheryl Reed,” I respond. The last name lie comes naturally enough. “I’m just passing through.”

A pause as both enforcers look me over. The one with the shield speaks first, but both of them look less tense now. _“Mr. Reed, I’ll have to ask you to come with us. You’re a suspect in this as much as this other man is.”_ He gestures down to the gunner, who has gone silent now.

“Officer, do you even have the power to do that here?” a voice sounds from behind me, and I glance over my shoulder to see one of the chrome-dressed figures hover closer from around the corner. “As far as I recall, the UESC has no jurisdiction on this moon in particular - only local law enforcement.”

_“Ma’am-“_

_“And_ the gunner shot one of my own, which makes it a crime against the _High Court._ So, therefore, these two should be coming with _me.”_ This figure hovers closer to my side, her gauntlets glowing brightly with blue static. “Officers, I’m afraid I’ll have to ask _you_ to stand down.”

The enforcers look at each other and, to my biggest surprise, straighten up and holster their guns. I only dimly notice that the screaming has stopped and sirens are sounding close by.

_“We respect your authority, ma’am,”_ one enforcer starts, _“but—“_

“No ‘but’s!” the figure interrupts, “or your boss _will_ hear from the High Court.”

The enforcers mumble a ‘yes ma’am’ before stepping back, and the figure turns to me. “You’re strong, I’ve seen that. Pick this man up and come with me.” She kicks the side of the gunner, who literally growls at her in response. I simply watch as she hovers away a bit to retrieve the fallen rifle - and I now notice she has some sort of jet pack on - before I bend down and hoist the gunner over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes. They complain loudly, but I tune them out as the hovering person guides me around back where she came and towards the entrance of the docks, where local law enforcement is waiting.

I do as I’m told for the next couple minutes - handing over the gunner to the policemen (with her saying “we’ll send a guy over here to take care of them”), answering a few questions with the chrome-dressed person’s help, and then waiting until the dock has cleared before she rounds on me.

“And _you.”_ It’s not hard to sense the bile in her words. “Reed is _not_ your last name.”

I stare at her. She’s right, but how—?

“Who are you _really,_ and _what_ do you want with the High Court?”

“M-Miss,” I stammer, trying to keep my cool, “I was just passing through—“

“You want something from us, don’t you?” I can sense her glaring at me from under her helmet. “Even if you’re not directly out to get us like that guy was, you want _something._ I can _tell.”_ She’s hovering ever closer as she speaks, and I find myself leaning back to avoid her. “Whatever it is, you _can’t_ have it! Now—“

A silence suddenly stretches between us. She tilts her head to the side. “Wait a second. I’ve seen you before.”

I blink. You’ve started to fade from my mind once again. “You...have?”

“In my dreams. I’ve seen those scars before.” She reaches up and cups my face in her gloved hands, and I flinch as she pulls my head down slightly, the touch aggravating my scarring. “You...something sent you here. To find us. To find me. What have _you_ seen? In your dreams?”

I give a small breath. This is a very awkward moment, but I try to answer truthfully anyway. “I’ve seen...a pavilion, a hallway. Blue and dark. Banners I don’t recognize. I...I look like you in the dreams. And the moon, in the pavilion, is always rising.”

“What shape is the moon?” she asks, softer now. Still hasn’t let go of my face, though.

“A full moon, first. Then a waning crescent. The latter...her name is Aeya, if I remember correctly.”

The person clicks her tongue and finally lets go of my face, dropping her hands to her side. “The Moon Court,” she says matter-of-factly as I straighten up and crack my neck. “If they’re sending you our way, it must be important.”

She turns around and hovers back towards her ship, gesturing for me to follow, which I do. I notice as we get closer that her companion that looks like her is now back on their feet, just holding their now-bandaged shoulder. I make a short detour to grab my duffel bag off the ground before the pilot waves us over.

“We’re taking him with us,” the person leading me explains to the pilot, who gives her an exasperated look.

“Miss Artificer, we can barely fit us four onto the ship, let alone another one,” he sighs.

_“We are taking him with us,”_ the artificer repeats, more forcefully this time. “It’s important business.”

The pilot glances over at me tiredly, and then punches the bridge of his nose. “Alright, come on then,” he says, leading the way. “Your sister is doing fine, by the way, Artificer. The shot just barely missed an artery, but whatever technology is in those suits of yours is helping her heal quickly.”

“Thank the gods.” The artificer glides after him, leaving me to tail those two. The ship’s stairs lower, and the pilot climbs up them first, with the artificer and her sister following up second. I hesitate briefly before following them last.

“Where are we headed?” I ask no one in particular as the stairs close up behind me.

“The House Beyond,” the artificer’s wounded companion speaks. Her voice is slightly lower than her sister’s, but still recognizable as family. “No outsiders have ever been inside its walls. Consider yourself lucky, stranger, and I hope that my sister knows what she’s doing.”

_“I know what I’m doing!”_ the sister snaps, but only half serious. “He saw the Moon Court! They sent him here. They sent him to us.”

I open my mouth to speak, but words do not come out as the two sisters start to banter with each other. Eventually, I head off, starting to explore my way around the small vessel.

I don’t get far.


End file.
